{"id":144822,"date":"2025-09-15T11:31:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T11:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/144822\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T11:31:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T11:31:28","slug":"reading-for-release-uzbekistan-to-free-prisoners-early-if-they-finish-chosen-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/144822\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading for release: Uzbekistan to free prisoners early if they finish chosen books"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n By&nbspSarvinoz Ibrokhimova\n<\/p>\n

\n Published on
\n 13\/09\/2025 – 10:58 GMT+2\n <\/p>\n

\"\"
\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n

When Ernest Hemingway was writing \u201cThe Old Man and the Sea\u201d, he probably never imagined that maybe one day his book would become a way for a prisoner<\/a> to shave three days off their jail time. <\/p>\n

But now, an inmate in an Uzbek prison can reducing their sentence, after proving to a special committee that they have read the world famous book<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The country’s senate has approved a law that allows detainees to shorten their sentences by reading<\/a>. But there are certain rules: For every approved book completed, a prisoner may reduce his sentence by three days, up to a maximum of 30 days per year.<\/p>\n

The measure does not apply to those serving life sentences, but according to officials, more than 13,500 inmates across the country could be affected.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe studied Brazil and Italy\u201d<\/p>\n

Shakhrizod Shokirov, an official at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Uzbekistan, told Euronews that the country looked at international practices before adopting the reform.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Brazil, since 2012 inmates can reduce their sentence by four days for each book read \u2014 up to 48 days per year. Similar measures exist in Italy and Bolivia. Uzbekistan studied these outcomes and decided to adapt this practice to our legal system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The system will be overseen by a special commission. After reading a book, inmates will take an exam to demonstrate they understood the content. The commission will include representatives of local councils, civil society, self-governing bodies and prison administrations. Only those who pass the exam will be eligible for a sentence reduction.<\/p>\n

What’s on the required reading list?<\/p>\n

Begmat Ochilov, a specialist at the Republican Center for Spirituality and Education, told Euronews that the book list was designed to cover a wide range of fields.<\/p>\n

\u201cReading allows inmates to reflect on themselves and understand others. This has a direct effect on their moral education and helps prevent future crimes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The official list includes both Uzbek works and international literary classics:<\/p>\n

Ernest Hemingway \u2014 The Old Man and the Sea
\nKarl von Clausewitz \u2014 On War
\nTheodore Dreiser \u2014 An American Tragedy
\nErich Maria Remarque \u2014 Three Comrades
\nRay Bradbury \u2014 Fahrenheit 451
\nFranz Kafka \u2014 The Trial
\nJack London \u2014 Martin Eden
\nAbdulla Qodiriy \u2014 O\u2018tkan kunlar\u00a0
\nThe Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan
\nThe Book of Leaders<\/p>\n

Reactions in Uzbekistan<\/p>\n

Lawyers and education experts in Uzbekistan have broadly welcomed the measure. Begmat Ochilov told Euronews the law could motivate prisoners to \u201cspend their time learning instead of idleness.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Officials say the law reflects a shift in Uzbekistan\u2019s justice system towards rehabilitation and education. But they also underline that consistent implementation will be key to its success.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By&nbspSarvinoz Ibrokhimova Published on 13\/09\/2025 – 10:58 GMT+2 ADVERTISEMENT When Ernest Hemingway was writing \u201cThe Old Man and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[64,63,457,2555,134,5584,98235,72978],"class_list":{"0":"post-144822","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-books","11":"tag-education","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-literature","14":"tag-prisoner","15":"tag-uzbekistan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}